OWN Turnaround Brightens the Outlook for Discovery

Oprah Winfrey’s OWN cable network is beginning to turn things around after a sluggish first couple of years, and that’s good news for network co-owner Discovery Communications, reports the Los Angeles Times’ Company Town blog, citing a report from Sanford C. Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger.

Juenger raised his target price for Discovery shares to $76, and pointed to improved ratings at OWN and at other Discovery networks such as Animal Planet. OWN is becoming a "go-to destination for celebrity personalities to address PR issues," the analyst wrote.

As previously reported, disgraced Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who has spent years denying he doped as a cyclist, gave an interview to Winfrey this week in which he confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs. The interview will air on OWN in two parts on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 17 and 18.